Dispenser for rolled paper



April 7, 1956 J. MILLER DISPENSER FOR ROLLED PAPER Filed May 9, 1952 JmeLillller r ZO' United States Patent* O 2,742,24 DISPNSERVFOR nonLE) ruan James L. Miller, Lake -Wortl-Fla i Ap ia'mM 9;1952,'Srial'No:286,928 z Claims.- (c1. 242-s.5

Thisi invention relates" to a* noi/eldispenser` of ere' tr'em'ely'sirnple'"Construction primarlyg'adapted .for. sup' porting'anddispensing rolled paper'towels' and 'whichis likewise *well'adapted 'as a 'holder 'and 'dispenser 'for rolled toilt paper:

More particularly; it is an aim'of 'the present invention':

toprovide'ardi'spenser which may 'beivery economically manufctured and sold 'for 'supportinga rolli'of 'paper' from-whi'ch iany 'desired amount ofjpaper ^may"be.*un-" rolled and 'separated fr'omthe roll,`thereby reducingwast'e infthe use "of paperremoved from the roll.

-Another'andparticularly important 'object of 'the 'pres'- paper-has -been use'd.* i

Stil1 "another object"'of theinventions'to provide a rolldpaper holder and 'dispenser of one-part 'construc-' tior'renablng the dispenser to be very economically :mane` ufactured' andsold; a

Various'*-otl`erobjects and' advantages `offithe invention will hreinafter* become *more* fully apparent from* the fdllwing description of the drawing; illustrating -a 'pre-' ferred 'mbodirnent thereof, and whereinr Figure -1`s` an end elevationalview= `'showing''the-disperiser n *an'` operative position;`

Figure 2 is a front elevationalviewth'ereof;

Figure 3 is anenlarged vertical sectional' view taken substantially along a plane as' 'indicated by the 'line 3-3 of Figure 2; i

figure- 4 isra fragmentary longitudinal sectional :View taken; substantially along a plane as -indicated-:by:- the` mjeret-4 'offi'gure 3, and

Figure` 5 'is a fragmentary horizontal sectional `view on an enlarged scale taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

' Referrng more specifically to the drawing, therolled paper holder and dispenser in its entirety and comprising the invention is designated generally 6 and includes a substantially flat rear wall 7, a transversely rounded top wall 8'of a length which is coextensve with the length of the real' Wall 7, having one longitudinal edge merging integrally with the upper edge of the rear wall 7, and a transversely rounded front wall 9 forming a continuation of the curvature of the forward part of the top wall 8 and which is likewise coextensive in length with the rear wall 7 and top wall 8. The bottom edge of the front wall 9 terminates substantially above the level of the bottom edge of the rear wall 7 and is notched to provide a toothed cutting edge 10, for a purpose which will hereinafter be described. The dispenser 6 also includes corresponding substantially parallel end walls 11 which are formed integral with the 'ear wall 7, top wall 8 and front wall 9. As best seen in Figure 3, the end walls 11 are provided with substantially straight bottom edge; portions "12"wl'i'c`h are idi'sp'osed in` substantially the t same plane as the "bottom" edge 'of the rearwalll 7 "and which' merge, 'therewith Sid end l walls' V 11 lare providedwith' upwardl'y curved'bottm edge portions, 13 .whiohl extend'fr'om'the'ends ofth bottom edge portins ldi pose'd remote to the rear wall 7,`and `whichfmerge atth'eirl upper'ends' with the ends` of th'e front wal1`-9.- Thebottom edge portions 12and 13`of 'the end walls 11`combirie with' the "bottom "edge i of "the rear wall'7 "and `the `.toothed I bott'orn'edge 10. of."the front wall 9f`to defire` the ,open bottom*14;of the dispenser Theparts 7`."to 11,, in-^. c1usive','oi:` the dispenser. 6'lare .all''iritegrally frmedjas., clarlyjillustrated in Fi'gres '3, 4 'and 5, .sotht th'e,di-.

penser '6 "constitutes a "one-'part"constructon `capablelof I' and'toward the 'adjcent end walls'. 11.` As seen iniigurev- 4, the'bttom"'edge-18"'of each fa'ce 18isspaced'from r thejinner'surface of the tongue l; individualthereto.

The rean w'all`l7 *is provided jwit h longitudinally spaced ,s openng* 19 to receive, driven fastenings. 20 which. ex: tend; outwardly'therethfough and are, embeddedlin. a ,wallf or-"upri h't member izljfr securin'ghe ,dispenser to the wall* "21 *and iso 'that 'its open. bottom.: `14 will\ opena. doww-ardly. The 'fasteni'rigs20`preferab1y.constitute wood'screws and the front wa'll`9`is preferablyprovided with: openings` 22,",d'spoSedJ'in'..aligrment withtheaopem irgj 19; throughl-whichl a screwdr iver or similar tool; not'showngmaygbe inserted 'for drivirig ;the .fateniiga 20"in'tothe wall"`or member 21.' Assuming thatthe dispenser is in;an appliedposition, as 'll'str'ated in the drawing, .aQrolld. paper toweL .ofia conventi'onal type, dsignatedjgenerally 23,rcomprising, a tuh 24' formed of cardboard or-thelike on ,which the paper towellng 25 s` wund-is'adpted to bemountedim thedispensen The dispenser 6 may; obvously be made: in various lengths to 'fit' 'paper rolls` 23lof `'difirent lengths: and which'may constitute roll's' of papertowellingpr other r typesof 'paper rrolls. ricludingolfdt paper. Therrolled;

paper 23 isiinsertedfupyvardly;throughflthiefopenmhottorr` 14 of ,the dispenser` 6.3 Therends ,or thesuppermostpor -7 tins o'f"the roll'e d 'paper 23'will str'il e the inclined surfaces 18 of the hearing elements 17, which surfaces will function as cams to cause the reslent tongues 16 to be displaced outwardly and tensioned by the upward displacement of the 'paper roll 23. The tongues 16 can yield outwardly through the end wall openings 26 forrned by said tongues and by the slots 15. When the roll of paper 23 has assumed a position so that the tube` -24 is in alignment with the hearing elements 17, the tongues 16 will be spring biased by their resiliency inwardly, thereby causing the hearing elements to be projected into the ends of the tube 24 to thus rotatably mount the roll of paper 23 on said hearing elements and within the dispenser 6. All portions of the edges of the cam faces 18 will extend into the tube ends, so that said bottom edges 18' will be shielded by the tube ends to prevent an instrument being inserted between a cam face 18 and an end of the tube 24 for displacing the bearing element 17 thereof outwardly to a position out of en gagement with the tube 24. Thus, removal of the roll of paper 23 from the holder will be prevented. The inner r 3 sides of the outer, free ends of the tongues 16 will bear against portions of the ends of the tube 24 and portions of the ends of the rolled paper 25, as illustrated in Figure 5, to frctionally resist rotation of the paper roll 23 and so that only a desired amount of paper will be un-rolled at any one time from the roll of paper and only while the free end of the roll of paper, designated 27, is actually being pulled downwardly, thus avoiding unnecessary waste of paper. The free end 27 of the paper extends downwardly from the outermost portion of the paper roll 25 which is located near the front wall 9 and accordingly extends downwardly through the opening 14 adjacent the toothed cutting edge 10. It will thus be readily apparent that the end 27 may be pulled down to any desired extent and thereafter by lifting upwardly on one side edge of the extended end 27, said' end 27 may be cut off by the toothed cutting edge lO. The free ends of the tongues 16 frictionally engage the'ends of the roll of paper 23 with sufficient force to prevent un-rolling of the paper 25 during this cuttng operation.

In initially applying the roll of paper 23 one end of the roller may be disposed above the level of the other end to engage the surface 18 of one hearing element 17 for displacing said hearing element outwardly and so that the opposite end of the roll of paper may then engage the surface 18 of the other hearing element to enable the roll to be inserted upwardly between the bearing elements for causing said hearing elements to be Sprung outwardly and tensioned, as previously described. It will be readily apparent that it will be substantially impossible to remove the roll of paper 23 from the dispenser 6 When in a fully -applied position, as illustrated in Figur-es 3, 4 and since insuflicent clearance exists between the edges of the tongues 16 and the Wall portions defining the openings 26 to enable said tongues to be drawn outwardly of the walls 11. Thus, the possibilty of rolls of paper towelling or rolls of tolet paper being stolen from public restrooms is thus reduced to a minimum. After the rolled paper 25 has been completely used, the cardboard tube 24 can be collapsed by a squeezing action and the ends thereof drawn together and thus disengaged from the hearing elements 17 so that a fresh roll of paper 23 can then be applied to the dispenser 6, as previously described.

The dispenser 6 may be formed of various materials such es various metals or plastics and may be stamped or molded. Due to the integral construction of all parts of the dispenser 6, it will be readily apparent that it can be very economically manufactured and will he very durable and eficent for accomplishing its intended result. The tongues 16 can be produced as a part of the stamping or molding operation and will possess su'icient resiliency to eflc'ectively support a paper roll and to eflectively function as a brake to restrict the rotation of the roll in unwnding the. paper therefrom; Likewise,

it will be readily apparent that the dispenser 6 may b made in various lengths and various cross sectional sizes to fit rolls of paper of different lengths and diameters.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obvously be resorted to, Without departing from the spirit *or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my nvention:

1. A dispenser forrolled paper comprising an elongated housing having an open bottom through which a roll of paper is inserted into the housing, said housing including flat end walls having corresponding Slots forming integral spring tongues, said tongues extending inwa'dly of the housing at a slight angle to the plane of the end walls and being resiliently disposed relatively to said end walls and capable'of being Sprung outwardly of the end walls through the openings therein formed by the tongues, each of said tongues having a projection on its inner side forming a hearing element, said projections engaging in the ends of the bore of the roll of paper for rotatably supporting the roll of paper in the housing whereby the paper may be unwound from the roll and dispensed therefrom through the open bottom of the housing, said projections having corresponding inner end surfaces inclined downwardly and outwardly relatively to one another toward the open bottom of the housing and forming cam surfaces engaged by the ends of the roll of i paper when the roll of paper is inserted upwardly into the housing for displacing the spring tongues outwardly of the housing through the end Wall openings, all portions of the continuous edges of the inner ends of said projections, constituting the marginal edges of said cam l surfaces, being spaced from the inner sides of the tongues,

and said tongues being spring biased inwardly by the resiliency thereof for causing all portionsof the edges of the inner ends of said projections to enter the ends of the bore of the roll of paper when theprojections are disposed in alignment with the bore for rotatably supporting the roll of paper and to prevent removal of the roll of paper from the projections except by collapsing the core of the paper roll after the paper has been dispensed.

2. A dispenser as in claim 1, said projections being spaced from the free ends of said tongues; and said free ends of the tongues being spring biased into frictional engagement against portions of the ends of the roll of paper to prevent free rotation and unwinding of the wound paper from saidprojections.

References cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,095,419 Pollard Oct. 12, 1937 2,201,052 Parsons May 14, 1940 2,499,815 Carlin Mar. 7, 1950 

